Defending!
by momoxtoshiro
Summary: An ordinary day at Wagnaria turns into a risky one all of a sudden at the risk of some robbers. It's time for the staff to step up to the plate and for Yachiyo to draw her sword in order to defend what's dearest to her. Satoudoki :3


**Hello, all! Here is my second Satodoki fic for Working! This was a suggestion from someone on tumblr so it may not be all that good since it's more serious than comical, like the series is. But if you wanna give it a shot, please do so! (Also the title was a suggestion. I guess I'll stick with it). **

**Disclaimer: I do no own Working!**

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><p>Defending!<p>

"Good morning, Satou-kun!"

A sweet, familiar voice shook Satou out of his morning weariness.

He had just finished putting on his chef's uniform in the kitchen when he turned around to find himself face to face with the cheerful expression of Yachiyo Todoroki. Her slightly flushed cheeks, gleeful eyes and soft, golden hair seemed too close in proximity to him to be true. But the clear sound of her voice snapped him away from any thoughts that it was a dream as he forced himself to get his act together and reply.

"Yeah. Morning, Todoroki." _She seems extra cheerful today._ He noticed with a tiny grin; one of the many reasons he liked her so much was that she always seemed to unconsciously know precisely when and how to brighten his day.

He was about to bring himself to say something, anything more to her, simply to make small talk, but his plans were foiled when a familiarly annoying blue-haired man walked into the kitchen then.

"Ah, morning Todoroki-san, Satou-kun." Souma greeted them, with a wink at his fellow chef. Satou glared at him for ruining his chance as Yachiyo greeted the other chef before exiting the kitchen.

"Damn it, Souma." Satou growled.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. Was she actually talking to you? And not about Kyouko-san?"

"Yes, for once." The blonde grumbled, turning away angrily. Then, he began to seek out Popura.

"Ah, no good with that, Satou-kun. Taneshima-san isn't coming in today until evening."

"Damn."

And so he contented himself with 'accidentally' stepping all of his weight on Souma's foot as he trudged across the kitchen. A few moments before the restaurant officially opened, Kyouko, Takanashi and Inami came in.

"What kind of restaurant is this when the manager comes in 2 minutes before we open?" Takanashi mumbled to himself. "Why isn't Senpai here today? I hate days she isn't here. No one else is cute. I can only hope that some of the customers today bring in children."

"...Takanashi." Kyouko stared at him. "I may have to call the police."

"Eh? Why?"

As the usual squabbles broke out amongst the employees, the customers began to enter at a steady flow.

Satou thought the day was going quite like any other; Inami was squealing at the sight of every man that entered, people were either marveling or frightfully murmuring about Yachiyo's katana, Souma was humming a tune too peppy for Satou's likes, and Takanashi took every opportunity he could to serve a family with children before Kyouko switched him with someone else.

He only sensed something was a little off when he spotted his love interest standing near an empty table, her face turned toward the entrance. Satou watched her for a moment from the corner of his eye, wondering what she was up to, but she stayed still for too long, and so he felt obliged to ask.

"Oi, Todoroki. What's wrong?"

The flustered, 'oh it's nothing' response he was expecting did not happen, but rather, she slowly turned toward the kitchen and walked his way.

"There's a group of gentlemen who have been standing outside for quite some time now, and it's troubling me. They haven't moved much and they seem to be scaring off our customers."

Satou was surprised at her observation; he certainly had not noticed anything out of the ordinary, and apparently neither had anyone else on the staff. Her concern for the people in her working environment was something that she rarely showed because she never really had to, but when she did show this side of herself, she was obviously very serious about it.

"I'm sure it's nothing. But I'll keep an eye on them too, if it makes you feel better, so just take it easy." He offered. He saw the furrow in her eyebrows sharpen before relaxing slightly.

"Yes. Thank you, Satou-kun." She nodded once before heading out again.

Satou sighed, not entirely sure what to make of her at the moment. _She's probably just overreacting, but it couldn't hurt to be on our guard. _

As the day went on, the customer count did indeed become lower, and Satou took note that the men Yachiyo had mentioned earlier continued to hang around the entrance. He was about to bring the matter to Kyouko and suggest taking action, but as he looked at the clock, he realized that Popura would be coming in soon, so he decided to deal with that first.

"Souma." He addressed his co-worker. "Taneshima should be coming in soon. Do you think you could go meet her outside and walk her in?"

"Sure thing. I'll keep an eye on them as well." The blue-haired man nodded to the entrance as he made his way to it, having caught on to what was happening some time ago. Satou watched as Souma exited, and the blonde kept an eye on the men. They moved a bit closer together, as though they were talking, but did nothing more that Satou could discern as suspicious or worrying.

Souma re-entered a few moments later with the short employee whom Satou loved to take his daily frustrations out on. As the two came in, he heard her saying, "Thank you for coming to get me, Souma-san. But why did you do that today?"

"Well let's just say Satou-kun had a premonition." The young man replied.

"It's not a premonition, idiot. See for yourself. We're down to less than half our usual customer number at this time of day because of those guys."

"You sure you're not overreacting? To me it looks like those guys are just extremely bored and have nothing better to do and will probably come in when they feel hungry enough."  
>"Well don't look at me." Satou put his hands up defensively. "Todoroki's the one who came to me with the issue a few hours ago."<p>

As he spoke her name, Satou spotted her walking between the few tables with customers seated at them; they had specifically given them tables far away from the door out of caution. Although she was smiling and the usual blush was present on her cheeks as she chatted with the customers, Satou could tell by her tense shoulders and straightened posture that she was still uncomfortable.

"What a predicament..." he sighed, unsure of what to do at this point. "Well, let's just get back to work for now. I'll keep an eye on them and talk to the manager." Those around him nodded before dispersing, and then Satou went on the hunt for their lazy manager. He was genuinely surprised to find she was not in the back room where the employees often hung out for their breaks. His next reasonable guess was the kitchen, but she was not there either, so as a last resort, he ended up asking the nearest employee, Takanashi, where she was.

"Oh, the manager? She actually just told me she was going to go out for her break to get some lunch at the place down the street."

"That's just great." The chef sighed. _Well, whatever. I'll just keep an eye on them until they leave. _As he walked back toward the kitchen with his absent-minded thoughts, he bumped into another absent-minded person. "Oh, sorry, Todoroki."

"It's fine." She responded airily, her face still turned toward the sources of everyone's unease at the moment. Satou scratched his head, not certain of how to make her lighten up a bit.

"Listen, Todoroki-"

"Wait." Her swift, clipped response caused his mouth to slam shut; never before in all the years he had been working with her had he heard her sound that way.

He looked up and noticed the three men had finally decided to make their way to the door to enter. Without a word, Satou followed Yachiyo as she slowly headed for them. They certainly did not look like normal customers, as they all wore hooded shirts and hats.

Then, as if it were some typical action movie, the three men immediately rushed to the register. Inami, who was managing it at the time, look up in alarm and shrieked, alerting every person's attention to the scene before them.

"Nobody move!" One of the men shouted.

The petrified customers were silenced as they ducked behind their seats and tables, as Popura dropped the dish she had been carrying. Satou's jaw dropped in utter shock that something like this was actually happening before his very eyes.

Yachiyo was the first member of the staff to reagin her composure, but Satou was almost certain she had never even lost it in the first place, as if she had been expecting this the entire time. She took a step forward toward the robbers but Satou instantly grabbed her wrist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He hissed. But she turned her head slightly back over her shoulder. He could only see half of her face, but he could tell that she was completely serious with what she intended to do.

"Satou-kun." Her voice made him shudder. In every syllable she breathed, he heard her solid resolve. He could even feel the flutter of her pulse in her wrist, which was slow and steady.

"Yachiyo..." he pleaded. But using her first name did not faze her ether.

"Satou-kun, please let me go. Do you want Inami-chan to face those men alone?"

"Damn it all." He growled, squeezing her wrist tighter before regrettably letting her go.

"Thank you, Satou-kun." She murmured before she stepped away from him.

Satou's mind was in turmoil and he could hardly think straight before he realized one thing; of the present employees, Souma was no where to be seen. Satou stole a glance back into the kitchen to see the other chef pressed against the wall.

"Oi, Souma!" He called quietly. "They haven't seen you so they don't know you're here. Call the police _now_." The blue-haired man nodded once before disappearing, and Satou refocused on the problem in front of him.

One of the robbers was glaring at Inami who was huddled behind the counter as the other two watched his back.

"Give us all the money!" The first man yelled. Inami jumped back and tightened her fists, but seemed too terrified to heed to her phobia's will to punch him.

"Excuse me, robber-sans." Yachiyo walked up then, addressing them in a tone that she would address any group of normal customers with. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yeah, you can give us the _money_ like we said!" The first man shouted, turning on her. As he turned his back on the register, Takanashi, whom had been nearby, grabbed Inami's arm and pulled her behind him. But the men were now all focused on Yachiyo.

"I am deeply sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to leave." She told them calmly.

"You think this is a game, girly?" The hooded man shouted, taking a stride toward her. Satou felt his blood run cold when he got so close to her, but she did not so much as flinch.

"You are frightening our customers, and therefore I would have to ask you to leave before I need to resort to force."

"Oh, I'm _so_ scared." He mocked. "Whatcha gonna do?" He moved even closer to her. Satou was about ready to dash forward and punch him out himself.

"I'll ask you one last time to leave quietly, sir." Yachiyo said cooly.

"And what if I don't?" He spat. The man then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pocket knife, pointing the tip directly at the waitress. Satou sucked in a breath through his teeth and took a step forward, however Yachiyo remained completely still.

"Oh my." She said, almost as though she were disappointed that they were willing to go so low as to use weapons. "This really is a problem now, isn't it, sirs? Now my beloved customers and friends are in danger. Just to be clear, I _did_ warn you prior to this, but you leave me no option now." All in one swift motion, she took a small step back and drew her katana faster than anyone could see and had it pointed at the tiny pocket knife.

"What the-?" The robber stared at her, baffled for a second before gritting his teeth. He side-stepped the katana before rushing in, but Yachiyo dodged him like an annoyed lioness dodging the pounce of a persistent cub. He stumbled past her as the other two men rushed her, but again Yachiyo avoided them so cleanly that they knocked heads.

The waitress moved to the other side of the aisle to stand in front of Souta and Inami, flipping her chin up slightly to signal to them to retreat, which they hastily obliged to. The three discombobulated men gathered their bearings before facing her again.

"She's a freak!" One exclaimed.

Taking in her balanced stance and the way she held her sword that suggested much training, she certainly looked deadly. Satou had to admit that he was more than surprised to witness what she was doing, although he still did not like it in the slightest.

He was hoping that the three men would flee, but to his dismay they charged her again at the same moment. Yachiyo twisted with inhuman speed as she flicked her katana forward and up, knocking one knife clean out of one of the men's grasps; it fell to the floor several feet away.

Yachiyo lunged forward and skillfully rammed her shoulder into one man's chest before shifting her katana in her hands to hit the last one in the gut with the hilt. She kicked the first man with a roundhouse kick and within a few seconds, the three of them lie unconscious on the ground. For a moment afterward, nobody moved, until at last, Yachiyo let out a huge sigh.

"What a shame. I didn't want to have to do that. Now the floor is dirty." She pouted, stepping over them as she sheathed her blade. Then, she seemed to remember where she was and turned back to the corner of the restaurant where the customers were seated. "Ah, dear customers? Everything is fine now so please continue to enjoy your meals!" She called out cheerfully.

Then, the employees began to regain their composures. Satou blinked several times before he realized what had just happened and everything processed through his mind.

"That was completely insane! But don't get me wrong, you were amazing, chief!" Souta informed her.

"Why thank you, Takanashi-kun! You were quite impressive yourself!"

"Y-Yeah." Inami piped in coyly. "Thank you a lot, Takanashi-kun."

"Yachiyo-san!" Popura's high voice pitched in. "That was great!" She ran up to the taller girl with a smile on her face. "You were so cool! And- Gah! Y-Yachiyo-san! You're bleeding!"

At those words, Satou finally forced his legs to move forward.

"What?" He walked over to them and placed a hand on Yachiyo's shoulder, turning her around to face him. Blood trickled down from a scratch across her left cheek, and from her right arm. When he got a better look, he noticed a long cut slicing up from her forearm to her elbow and winced when he saw it.

"Eh?" Yachiyo sounded puzzled until she realized Popura was correct. "Ah, it seems my skills are getting a bit rusty. It looks like I was unable to dodge efficiently." She sounded more regretful than shocked.

"Idiot." Satou growled lightly. "Come here." He took her left hand in his and led her away toward the back. "Souma." He called out. "Where are those cops?"

"On their way as we speak." The other chef replied, grimacing as he saw his co-worker's nasty wounds.

"Good. Could you just get those guys' weapons and keep everyone away from them? They should be out for a while but we can't be too cautious."

"Sure thing." He nodded before heading off to the front.

Satou led Yachiyo to the break room and had her sit down. He rummaged through a few cabinets before he pulled out a roll of bandages.

"I guess we're lucky we kept this since that one time Yamada got a cut on her finger from picking up glass." He tore a good strip off before returning to her. "Hold up your arm."

Yachiyo did as she was told and raised her right arm. Satou carefully began wrapping the bandage around the cut, overlapping it, but not tightly enough to numb her circulation. When he had finished, he returned to the cabinet to retrieve a band-aid. "Turn your head." He murmured, crouching down so that he was face-level with her. But it was as if she had not heard him, for she simply hung her head. "Todoroki?" He queried. "What's wrong? Does it hurt somewhere?"

"E-Eh? N-No, of course not. It's just..." she trailed off for a moment before finding her voice again. "I mean, i-it's fine, Satou-san. You've already done so much for me."

"Not nearly as much as _you've_ done for _everyone_. Now come on, let me see your cut." Reaching forward, he gently brushed his fingers against her wounded cheek. Yachiyo jumped slightly at his warm, calming touch before she silently complied and turned her face to the side. Satou gave a tiny smirk as he thought about how cute she was as he pressed the band-aid into place. "There." He announced. "I'll take you to the hospital in a little while."

"What? No, y-you don't need to do that."

"Except I _do_. What if your injury gets infected?" Yachiyo gave him a miserable look and sighed. Satou softened his voice. "Hey, why don't you let someone worry about you for a change, okay? Just this once?" He requested as he stood up before her. She slowly tilted her face upward before she gave a small nod. There was a pink tint on her cheeks and Satou felt a the blood rush to his face as well. "F-For now you should just stay here and rest until we get things cleaned up."

"No." She reached out and caught his hand and the chef turned back to look down at her in surprise. "I'll come with you, Satou-kun." Although he knew she was just speaking plainly, his mind was aching to blow things out of proportion and process her words in a romantic sense, but he forced the urge away.

"Alright." He shrugged as he led her back out to the lobby.

A few moments later, the police has arrived and confined the robbers as the employees looked on. The customers who had been there at the time came up to Yachiyo to thank her.

"Onee-san was really cool!" One little girl beamed.

"Gah she's so cute!" Souta covered his mouth with his hands as he tried to restrain himself.

"Woah, what's going on here?" A familiar voice wondered as all heads turned to meet Kyouko. "I go out for lunch and come back to find my concerns come to life? Takanashi, I didn't think they would actually call the police on you." She gave him a dirty glare.

"W-W-What! Y-You've got it all wrong! It wasn't me!" He denied.

"Yeah, yeah sure." She waved her hand dismissively. Then her eyes locked on Yachiyo. "Oi. What happened to you?"

"It's a long story." Satou cut in before she could reply. Honestly, right now he was intent to take Yachiyo away with him to the hospital before she could start swooning over the fact that Kyouko was worried about her. But to his surprise, Yachiyo merely bowed her head in a bashful smile to Kyouko.

"Well, various things happened..." she mumbled.

"I'll fill you in." Souma offered their manager as he began to explain.

"I'll be taking her to the hospital now." Satou announced, tugging on Yachiyo's hand lightly.

"Ah, yes. Do that, Satou." Kyoko nodded after him.

"I-I'll be going with Satou-kun then!" Yachiyo announced, a tad louder than she intended to, therefore she ended up with a flustered blush on her face.

"Come on, you." He chuckled, tapping her on the head lightly with the back of his fist.

As they exited Wagnaria and headed to his car, Satou took a daring risk and decided to nonchalantly wrap his arm around her back and waist.

Yachiyo gasped a little at his unexpected actions, but other than fumbling with her hands over her stomach, she did not seem to mind in the slightest.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you guys liked it!  
><strong>

**Please review!**


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